ALTERthought, an integrated consulting, distributed system’s engineering, and product development firm, has opportunities for Senior .NET Architects. These opportunities will allow the candidate to make his or her mark on the organization through diverse responsibilities in groundbreaking internal and client services initiatives.

The individual will serve as a key technological leader for complex distributed systems (re)-engineering projects.

The Senior .NET Architect participates as part of a larger team for ALTERthought internal and client-oriented initiatives. He or she helps support ALTERthought’s core value of Technology and Innovation through implementation and refinement of leading and emerging technologies for internal as well as client products/solutions. The Senior .NET Architect is a well-rounded professional with excellent interpersonal skills backed by solid engineering expertise.  This candidate will drive and establish architectural direction and design oversight and work with cutting-edge technology, while keeping up-to-date on current technologies and trends in the marketplace.  Candidate will also support ALTERthought’s core value of Commitment to Employees by providing mentoring and coaching to software engineers. The Architect also supports ALTERthought’s core value of Customer Commitment through professional strategic engineering leadership, software feature/complexity negotiation, and customer relationship development.

1.       Reviews concept and functional specifications and create high-level design and architectural documents

2.       Applies object-oriented principals to design critical new components of enterprise software applications

3.       Works with the business analysts and the product management team in understanding the business goal or problem

4.       Designs or modifies product features in a flexible and scalable manner

5.       Provides technical assistance and direction to more junior members of the team

6.       Creates high level proof of concept or prototypes

7.       Works with the Lead Software Engineers to give clear guidance on implementing the architectural solution

8.       Reviews technical specifications, code and provide feedback for improvements

9.       Works with other members of the Architecture team to come up with a solution that is feasible in all tiers

10.   Works with Project Managers and Management to develop project estimates

11.   Evaluates third party solutions and presents recommendation to the management team

12.   Works on multiple application development initiatives simultaneously4 + years experience with various software development methodologies preferably the RUP/Agile/XP is strongly desired

13.   Experience with XP and agile methodologies is highly desirable

14.   Facility with MS Project strongly desired

1.       7+ years of experience in designing and developing software applications

2.       3+ years of experience leading and architecting large scale software development projects, including internet applications

3.       Expert knowledge of the Microsoft Windows environment, Microsoft .NET technologies and languages and distributed software architecture

4.       Proficiency in web application and business components design and implementation

5.       Proficiency in Web Services design and implementation

6.       Strong logical problem solving and troubleshooting skills

7.       Strong experience with key enterprise application design approaches including service-oriented architectures, transactions, concurrency, object-relational data access, and scalability on the Microsoft . NET platform

8.       Expert in reusable software components and frameworks

9.       Expertise building enterprise applications against SQL Server database or equivalent

10.   Familiarity with many Software Design Patterns

11.   Demonstrated good judgment in selecting methods and techniques for obtaining solutions, initiative, and a willingness to learn and employ new technologies

12.   Knowledge of system performance assessment is a plus

13.   Experience with multi-thread, localization and . NET framework is a must

14.   Expert in understanding of the Object Oriented Design

15.   Quickly understands the application architecture

NOTE: We will consider all candidates for this position, but a re-location package may or may not be offered.

ABOUT ALTERTHOUGHT:

ALTERthought is a client-first distributed systems consultancy that helps its business partners lead in their fields through technology and commerce innovation. Clients include the Global 2000, esteemed online brands, and leading mid-market companies. Since its inception in 1998, the integrated consulting and product engineering firm has collaborated with its clients to envision, architect, and deliver business results through intelligent technology solutions while developing its own ground-breaking software concepts.  ALTERthought is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia with offices in the National Capital Region.

The Software Engineer/Analyst participates as part of a larger team for ALTERthought internal and client-oriented initiatives. He or she helps support ALTERthought’s core value of Technology and Innovation through implementation and refinement of leading and emerging technologies for internal as well as client products/solutions. The Engineer/Analyst is a well-rounded professional with excellent interpersonal skills backed by solid engineering expertise.

TECHNOLOGY RELATED (70%)

Engineer/Analysts provide a range of technical expertise, as a design and implementation specialist of ALTERthought’’ products and services using C#/.NET, Java/J2EE and a variety of development tools. The ideal candidate has the ability to solve problems quickly and creatively, and is able to work independently to meet aggressive deadlines with a minimal amount of direction from senior team members. Both participating in requirements and design sessions, as well as intensive programming directly from existing specifications will be required. The engineer will code quality implementation of designs using .NET, Java and J2EE technologies, including C#, VB.NET, EJB, JMS, JMX, and JSP while meeting implementation deadlines; problem solve and coordinate with members of a cross-functional team including Project Management, Quality Services and Client Services; maintain implementations as products and services mature; adhere to software development and source control processes; and mentor other team members as appropriate.

BUSINESS RELATED (30%)

The Engineer/Analyst will provide analytical and customer contact services in the development of leading edge e-business infrastructure and systems. He or she will aid in analysis of customer User Roles, Processes, and infrastructure needs; Assist in modeling of User/Role Business Information Needs; contribute to current-state Business Process Analysis activities and Contribute to future-state Business Process Design activities.

1.       Bachelor's degree (preferred) in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or Computer Engineering or demonstrable equivalent industry experience

2.       2+ years of Object Oriented server side development required

3.       2+ years of full-lifecycle server software development experience using the following technologies: VB.NET, C#, ASP.NET

4.       Experience with various Microsoft Platforms

5.       Familiarity with relational databases

6.       2+ years experience with Object Oriented Analysis and Design (OOAD) using UML

7.       Experience with XML/XSL, WSDL, and SQL

8.       Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously

9.       Demonstrated capacity for learning quickly in a fast-paced environment

10.   Excellent communication skills

11.   Must be able to translate mid-level designs, into quality implementations

12.   Must be an excellent team player with the ability to offer and accept constructive criticism

13.   Must have 2 + years experience with various software development methodologies, preferably the RUP and/or Agile/XP tenets.

14.   Previous consulting experience desired

15.   Experience with Java, J2EE (EJB, JMS, JMX, etc.) highly desired

16.   Affinity and experience with open source tools and frameworks (Struts, Ant, assorted Jakarta tools) is a plus

17.   Experience designing and developing solutions for both Wintel and Unix-based operating systems is required

18.   This position requires a minimum 2 years of IT-related experience with experience in corporate portals, embedded systems, and high-volume transactional systems is a plus. Experience in accelerated development a strong plus. Demonstrated experience utilizing formal process engineering methods to deliver information service and/or software application is required.

NOTE: We will consider all candidates for this position, but a re-location package may or may not be offered.

ABOUT ALTERTHOUGHT:

ALTERthought is a client-first distributed systems consultancy that helps its business partners lead in their fields through technology and commerce innovation. Clients include the Global 2000, esteemed online brands, and leading mid-market companies. Since its inception in 1998, the integrated consulting and product engineering firm has collaborated with its clients to envision, architect, and deliver business results through intelligent technology solutions while developing its own ground-breaking software concepts.  ALTERthought is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia with offices in the National Capital Region.